This is exactly the information I was looking for! Thanks!

Ok, basic LST techniques seem easy enough. I was going to use 5 gallon buckets and put a bunch of screws into the lip. I was then going to get a soft cotton string and train the plant down to the screws and around the lip of the bucket. Would it be effective to do any topping as well? This forces the plant to create several budsites where one would have been, correct?

I have about a 1m x .5m x 2m (maybe 2.5m) [about 3' x 1.5' x 6' - 7'] growing area. The groundspace is the limiting issue more than anything else. If I can find a better location in my home to place it I might be able to get more width. I was thinking I could probably fit 4 plants into this area with the right training. Should I use more than 1 400w HPS? Electricity costs and start up costs are a concern for me. 5oz. is also the maximum I'd need. My spouse and I really don't have a lot of time to actually stay stoned (unfortunately), so mostly we do a couple of bowls or joints in the evening before bed. That is of course midgrade, regular weed. We were hoping that I could grow much more potent buds. If that's the case, the amount we smoked would probably be drastically reduced. I think in this situation 1oz a month would be plenty (we can make 4 grams last several weeks if we have to lol).

Thank you for the candid and informative post! I hope you don't mind my noob questions! Believe it or not I have done a lot of research on this and other forums, but the information is spread out and somewhat haphazard, so having my own thread where I can ask specific questions is very helpful.

I'll be picking up Jorge Cervante's Grower's Bible soon. It seemed like a really good reference and it had really good pictures which I think would really help me in sexing plants, figuring out any problems I might be having and whatnot.



Quote Originally Posted by Weedhound
140 gms...5oz...off of 2-3 many plants? You'd REALLY be pushing it under 400watts without any training. The T5's will help....but they certainly aren't anywhere near a 400w hps...you know what I mean? Again...that's where the training comes in. WITH training and practice and the right strain.....you can get tease quite a bit from these plants. But they take work to get a good finished product. Also consider this.....you're spending X amount of time working on and growing these plants more or less. Why not get the best out of them you can? You've expended money, energy, and time either way. I understand your desire to keep it simple....which is smart.....but reduced yield will go along with that.

Lastly.....when you talk about pruning I tend to think more of supercropping....trimming fair amounts of the plant such as entire branches or lots of leaves to change the shape of the plant or to improve light to budsites. I consider topping to be snipping the top off of the plant to increase side branching. Just want to be sure we are talking about the same thing.....not trying to correct you or anything :stoned: but wanted to say that supercropping will add several weeks to the amount of time your plant will need for blooming. Takes that long for them to recover and pick back up where they left off. I know this for a fact......guess why. (now...!)